15 June, 2021

Daily encounters with strangers


(Disclaimer: I speak German fluently, but with an accent.)

At the beginning...

Where do you come from?
Why are you here?
When are you going back?

The first question sparks an internal dialog: What should I answer... where I was born (Caracas), where I was raised (all over), where I am a citizen of (Canada), where I have lived the longest (Germany), where my heart feels most at home (Grenada)?

A few more years down the line...

Where do you come from?
Why are you here?
When are you going back?

My answer: Canada

A few decades have passed...

Where do you come from?
Why are you here?
When are you going back?

My answer: None of your f**king business. 

(Disclaimer: this is what I wish I could have said. It is what my friend, Hamed, used to say when some random person asked where he came from given the colour of his skin. I was both shocked and in awe when he told me that he responded such. As a passport carrying Canadian, I could not breech my etiquette.)

In the last years...

Where do you come from?
Why are you here?
When are you going back?

My answer: Lübeck... and I derive joy from their expressions of doubt.

(This post is part of my "Growing Up & Growing Old" project.)

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